Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Starting a Bright Lights Group

How do I start a Bright Lights group?
If you would like to start a Bright Lights group, we suggest that you go through the Discipleship Training sessions. These will provide training in discipleship and ministry, and also give you many practical ideas.

You can access the Discipleship Training sessions for $10 here.

You will also want to get a Leaders Manual (which includes “Teachers Sheets” to go along with each lesson) and a copy of the Bright Lights material.

Once you go through the Discipleship Training sessions and familiarize yourself with the Leaders Manual, you can fill out an application in order to become an official Bright Lights group.

What is covered in the Discipleship Training Conference?
This training is designed to help older teens and women learn how to mentor younger girls. If you would like to start a Bright Lights group, it will help you get started, and encourage and equip you through the process. Even if you are not planning to start a group, it will provide tools and insights to help you invest in the younger girls in your life, whether through one-on-one discipleship or other ministries. Sessions are taught by Sarah Hancock and include testimonies from Bright Lights leaders.

Session Topics:

A Vision for Discipleship
Practical Ways to Reach the Hearts of Young Ladies
Principles of Ministry
The Leaders’ Responsibility
How to Lead an Effective Small Group
How to Disciple Girls One-on-One

Why should I become an “official” Bright Lights leader?
The goal of the Bright Lights ministry is to train and equip mothers and young ladies to disciple younger girls. One of the ways we encourage them to do this is by starting small discipleship groups. There is now a network of about 750 “official” Bright Lights groups that have started around the world.

If you would like to use the name Bright Lights, we ask that you go through the Leaders Training and send in an application. The application is just a small way for us to get to know you and confirm that your purpose for the group is consistent with the original goals and intent of Bright Lights.

Another reason that we ask leaders to register as official groups is because it is exciting to be able to stay in touch with them, share ideas and prayer requests, and hear encouraging reports of what God is doing.

Also, if you send in your application, then we’ll know about your group, feel confident that we can wholeheartedly recommend your group to others, and be able to pass on your contact information to others from your area who are interested in finding out about local Bright Lights groups.

Leaders who have registered as official groups are able to receive discount prices and have access to free resources and the closed Facebook group for leaders.

How old do you have to be to begin a Bright Lights group?
We suggest that a girl should be at least 15 years old to lead a group, but there is no age requirement.

If there is 13 or 14-year-old girl who would like to start a group, perhaps she and her mother could start out leading the group together. Then as the girl gets older she could gradually take over more and more of the responsibility of leadership.

Can mothers lead Bright Lights groups?
Yes, there are many groups led by mothers and we have been getting very encouraging reports from them.

If it is possible, we suggest that mothers find an older godly girl to be involved as a helper and example. It is nice when the girls in the group can see that there are older girls choosing to follow the Lord and not just adults. If the Lord doesn’t provide in this way, then hopefully as the group continues, some of the older girls in the group can begin taking leadership and become examples for the others.

Can you use the Bright Lights material as a Sunday school curriculum?
Yes you can. Quite a few churches have been using it as a Sunday school curriculum and we have been getting good reports from them.

What ages should Bright Lights be for?
Sarah started her group for girls age 10-13. We believe this age to be extremely important. It is often a turning point for young ladies, and a time they are making decisions which will set the course for their lives.

Once a girl begins coming to our Bright Lights group, she is welcome to stay as long as she would like. Presently, our group has young ladies in their twenties still involved. The older ones assist as leaders and examples, and the material presented is applicable to the older girls as well as to the younger ones.

You can be flexible depending on your age and situation. If you are only 15, you may want to start your group for 9-11 year olds. If you want to focus on girls a little older, perhaps 12-15 year olds, you would find that the material would still be very applicable and can easily be adjusted for older girls.

How often should a Bright Lights group meet?
Obviously it varies for each group, but meeting twice a month is what has worked the best for us. In most cases, it seems like meeting every week gets to be too much—especially for the leader, but also for the girls. It’s easy to get burned out if you have to plan a meeting every single week.

Currently, because of other needs with the Bright Lights ministry, our group only meets once a month. This has been working well, but we think twice a month would be better. With so much time passing between each meeting, it’s harder to keep the momentum going and it’s harder for the girls to remember what they talked about in previous lessons.

What is the normal schedule of a Bright Lights meeting?
Our meetings are 2 ½ hours long, but most groups meet for a little less time (such as 2 hrs). You might want to start with a 1 ½ or 2 hour meeting, and then increase the length of your meetings if you decide that you need more time.

The schedule of a Bright Lights meeting might look something like this:
6:00-6:30 Singing and Welcome
6:30-7:15 The Lesson
7:15-8:00 Activity (reading a biography, memorizing Scripture, having small group discussions, or doing various activities that reinforce the lesson)
8:00-8:15 Fellowship with tea and snacks

Do you have a brochure that I could use to advertise Bright Lights in my area?
Yes, we do have a brochure that shares some general information about what Bright Lights is, how it started, and the vision and purpose of this ministry. Let us know if you would like us to e-mail you a PDF of this brochure. To advertise your group, you could include a little insert with your own information, or you can get ideas from this brochure and make your own.

Who should I invite?
When Sarah started her group, she made some brochures and sent them out to Christian girls she knew. She wrote a note to some of their parents explaining the purpose of the group and asking if they would be interested in their daughters participating. By inviting these specific girls, she was able to start out with a core of serious Christian girls who genuinely wanted to learn and grow in the Lord.

This is what we recommend—starting with a core group of serious believers if possible. But we do encourage you to keep your group open to anyone the Lord brings. Soon the girls in Sarah’s group began to invite their friends. Eventually, even a few unbelievers began to attend. Yet, because of the “core group” of original girls, the atmosphere remained one of strong, godly fellowship and peer pressure. The new girls were “pulled up”—rather than the others being “pulled down.”

If you do not know of any godly girls to invite, do not let this keep you from beginning a group. It may be that you will be the only positive influence in the group—or at least it may start out that way. As the girls grow in the Lord, the group dynamics will change too.

Each group has a unique purpose, and some are called to minister to very needy or unchurched girls. In this case, the purpose will first of all be evangelism—then discipleship. With unbelievers or baby believers, we suggest that you still use the Bright Lights booklets, but that you supplement it with a lot of basic Bible teaching (Bible stories, learning the books of the Bible, memorization, basic doctrine, etc.) and that you include the gospel in some way in every meeting.

In our group, we pray that the Lord would bring the girls He wants to be there, and when someone new comes, we assume that God brought her for a particular reason.

How do I maintain positive peer pressure?
Seek to continually maintain a spiritual emphasis. It’s nice to have humor, activities, fun, and fellowship, but do not lose your main focus. If you keep the spiritual teaching primary, it will attract the girls who are seeking the Lord and not interest the ones who are not. We have found that the girls who have no interest in spiritual things soon drop out of the group. This is okay. Bright Lights isn’t designed for them.

Also, encourage the ones who are doing well, and help them to see the importance of their example. Give them specific ideas about how they can influence the other girls to seek Christ.

We’re not saying that you won’t have any negative influences. We always seem to have at least a few girls in our group who must be watched closely. 🙂 If God has brought them, and if they continue coming, we must assume that He has a purpose for them to be there. Other girls also need to realize that they should see the ministry opportunities right within the group.

What if I just started going to a new church and can’t get a pastor’s signature?
The reason we ask for a pastor/elder’s signature on the Leaders application is because we want to encourage people to have a working relationship with their church and also so that we can have a character reference. But if you’re hesitant to approach your pastor at this time, it would be fine to have a character reference from another leader in your church or a godly friend to whom you are accountable. Usually pastors seem to be happy to give a character reference. Your pastor doesn’t need to think of it as a “ministry of the church” necessarily, but just that you feel called to disciple younger girls. All Christians are called to make disciples. Hopefully, your pastor will be excited about Bright Lights and see your group as something “in addition” to church functions and not in competition with them. It is extremely beneficial to have your church family committed to praying for this ministry, and to have their support and encouragement.

Bright Lights Conferences

How do I find out when conferences are scheduled and where they are going to be located?
To see our schedule click here. You can also sign up for our email newsletter at the bottom of our home page.

How can I set up a conference in my area?
E-mail us at [email protected] and we’ll send you more information about what’s involved with hosting a conference.

Bright Lights Groups

How do I find out if there is a Bright Lights group in my area?
Email us at [email protected] with your address and we will send you the information for the group closest to you.

Can I use the Bright Lights material with just my daughter instead of in a group setting?
Yes! The Bright Lights material is designed to be used either in a group or as a one-on-one discipleship curriculum. If there is no group in your area and you do not feel like you are able to lead one yourself at this time, we recommend that you use the Bright Lights program as a discipleship curriculum with your daughter.

We suggest that once a week you have a special mother-daughter time, read through one booklet aloud together, discuss it, pray together, listen to the section of the CD which goes along with that lesson (approximately ten minutes), and determine ways both of you can be applying this topic to your life this week. There are also mother-daughter discussion guides to go along with each set.

The other sections of the binder (daily growth, my stories, and resources) are for your daughter to use to keep personal records. You and your daughter may want to hold each other accountable for daily disciplines. You may also want to help your daughter write testimonies or assign them as a school project.

Click here for more helpful tips.

What are the supplement CDs for?
There is a supplement CD included with every set. This contains stories and testimonies to go along with each lesson. The CDs help girls get a better grasp of the truth presented because they not only read the lesson, but are able to hear testimonies that reinforce it. Listening to the CD makes young ladies feel more like they are a part of the ministry and gives them a better taste of the vision and spirit of Bright Lights. It is also especially powerful for girls to hear other young ladies sharing their desire to be strong in the Lord as well as their struggles in their own Christian walk.

How many sets do you have available right now?
Right now there are eight sets in print. For more information about the lessons that are included in each set click here.

Starting a Bright Lights group

Bright Lights Conferences

Bright Lights Groups

Other Miscellaneous Questions:

Starting a Bright Lights Group

Bright Lights Conferences

Bright Lights Groups

Other Miscellaneous Questions: